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t he Ca nne s Fi lm Fe st iva l
prem iere of Wind R iver,
t he d i re c tor i a l debut of
Central Texas native Taylor
Sherida n, Eliz abet h Olsen
climbs onstage inside the iconic
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes.
Looking old-school glam in a plunging blush-
colored Miu Miu gown, she takes in the scene,
smiling as the audience delivers its enthusiastic
applause and Sheridan introduces the film. It
is not Olsen's first time at Cannes, but from
her perspective, it might as well be. "e first
time I was here, I didn't soak it in," says the
actress during our beachside stroll the next day.
"I was overwhelmed, and I don't have very many
memories of being present."
is time would be different, she determined,
starting with the decision to clutch her pink heels
in her hand while onstage. "During Sundance, I
had a bit of a panic attack when we were onstage.
You have all the lights on you, and there's really
no point of focus. I hate it. It freaks me out. So,
I thought, 'I'm going to take my shoes off.' And
I remember every moment," she says.
As not even a 2am post-premiere photo call
manages to rattle the actress, you get the sense
Olsen knows not only how to navigate the chaos
that is the world's most renowned film festival,
but is also competently steering a career that, in
the past seven years, has launched her to fame
far beyond what maybe even she expected.
"Now that I feel a bit more solid about what
I'm making and I have a very clear intention
for myself, I'm a happier person," explains the
28-year-old. "I've started to figure out how I
want to function as a human being in the world
and balance it with work."
She may feel like she is only now coming
into herself, but from the outside, it seems like
Olsen has always had a strong sense of direction.
While the actress has, in the past seven years,
made an impressive 18 films—ranging from well-
received indies like Martha Marcy May Marlene to
major blockbusters like Godzilla and e Avengers
films—her love of acting and performing was
established long before her 21st birthday.
e youngest sister of twins Mary-Kate and
Ashley made her on-screen debut at age 4 in her
siblings' films, before deciding at age 7 she would
not pursue the same path as her famous sisters. "I
did try and audition when I was younger. I thought,
'Well that sounds fun. I see what my sisters do.' I
went on a few auditions, Spy Kids being the first
one, and they asked me to read the script. It looked
bigger than the Bible to me," Olsen recalls. "I didn't
understand why I would ever read something that
big. I realized I would miss out on after-school
sports and forfeit things I enjoyed doing at a young
age. My dad had me write a list of pros and cons,
and the cons side was bigger. I decided to stick to
my after-school activities."
Despite the 15-year hole in her résumé, Olsen
never gave up acting. "e [activities] my family
[came out to support] me in were probably painful
to watch," she laughs. "From ballet recitals to plays
to some experimental things—it was constant.
But [these] were hobbies, not a job." ey were,
however, the things she cared about the most.
After high school, Olsen enrolled at New York
University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she
learned the discipline of the craft, even spending
a semester at the Moscow Art eatre in Russia.
"All these teachers [were] trying to scare [us],
letting [us] know that [acting] is hard and you're
going to be rejected 99 percent of the time. Every
time someone said it to me, it was a challenge,
like, 'I'll show you.'"
at, she did. Olsen's breakout role came
as the titular character in Martha Marcy May